Families of terror victims protest the release of Palestinian prisoners in 2011. (photo credit: Yossi Zamir/Flash 90)

The families of terror victims appealed to the High Court of Justice late Wednesday evening to delay the overnight transfer of the remains of 91 terrorists to the Palestinian Authority.

The remains will be handed over to the PA before Thursday morning, Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein said. The Almagor Terror Victims Association, however, wants the families of terrorist victims to get the chance to appeal the government’s decision. It also wants the government to pressure the PA to refrain from celebrations honoring the terrorists.

PA President Mahmoud Abbas and the Palestinian leadership are expected to attend a ceremony at the Muqata’a compound in Ramallah honoring the reception of the terrorists’ remains, Palestinian Civil Affairs Minister Hussein a-Sheikh said.

The Justice Ministry said the names of the terrorists whose remains will be given to the PA on Thursday had been handed over to the families of the victims on Wednesday evening.

By early Wednesday night, the families had not yet received the list of names, and Almagor criticized the government for “withholding information from the public.”

“The Palestinian Authority knows the names, the families of the killers know the names — only the families of the victims and the Israeli public are not exposed to the facts”, the organization said.

Earlier on Wednesday, a Palestinian minister claimed that several terrorists who had murdered Israelis were among those whose remains were to be transferred.

Among the 91 bodies, according to earlier reports, are the remains of a suicide bomber who killed seven Israelis at Cafe Hillel in Jerusalem; a terrorist who blew up theJerusalem No. 2 bus killing 18; and two suicide bombers who killed 16 Israelis in Beersheba. The bodies of seven Fatah terrorists who took over the Savoy Hotel in Tel Aviv in 1975 and were killed in a Sayeret Matkal rescue operation will also be returned on Thursday.

The return of the bodies of 130 terrorists is regarded as a confidence-building gesture aimed at reviving direct negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians. The remainder of the bodies will be transferred to the Palestinian Authority on an unspecified date.